The Naturalist Movement

Today we are going to look at the movement associated with Jack London’s writing. London helped start the literary revolution of Naturalism. Even though Jack London was one of the most notable naturalist writers we will look at the Naturalist movement as a whole. The literary Naturalist movement can be best described as “a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings” (New World Encyclopedia). This movement intentionally differed from other movements around the same era such as the Romantic or Realist movements. These movements focused on the feelings and emotions of human beings whereas the Naturalist movement focused on the “scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings” (Campbell). Naturalist writers applied science to their work; therefore most often the scientific method was used in their writing. Authors would study cultures that are governed by human instinct: this study would give the writer an idea of how humans react to their surroundings. The naturalist movement is devoid of feeling or human emotion. Some of the key themes were survival, determinism, violence, and taboo (NWE). It is truly a study in the scientific realm. Although my blog is for Jack London; I would be doing the topic a great disservice if I did not mention Stephen Crane. Crane was most prominent Naturalistic writers of the movement. Crane’s book Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets (1893) was heavily sexual and brutal. The book had to be privately printed at first, but eventually was hailed as the first work of the Naturalistic movement. Crane is also credited with the first American War novel in The Red Badge of Courage. Other notable authors of the Naturalist movement are Abraham Cahan, Ellen Glasgow, and David Graham Phillips (Davies). I will leave readers with a poem written by Stephen Crane which helps describes the detached emotionless character of the Naturalist movement.

A man said to the universe: 
"Sir, I exist!" 
"However," replied the universe, 
"The fact has not created in me 
A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane (1894, 1899)



Citation:

Davies, Jude. "American Naturalism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 November 2001
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID= 764, accessed 07 November 2010.]

Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature." Washington State University, 27 Jul 2010. Web. 7 Nov 2010. <http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm>. 

"Naturalism (literature)." New World Encyclopedia. Paragon House Publishers, 2008. Web. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Naturalism_%28literature%29>.